New home sales in the United States dropped more than expected last month, probably amid weaker demand. The Department of Commerce reported on Tuesday that sales of new houses dropped 11.4% to a seasonally adjusted annualised pace of 569K units in April, following the prior month's upwardly revised pace of 642K units, the highest since October 2007, and falling behind expectations for a decrease to a 611K-unit pace. On an annual basis, new home sales were up 0.5% in April. The average selling price dropped to $309.2K in April from $318.7K seen in the preceding month. Despite April's unexpected drop, analysts suggested that the housing market maintained its momentum and would continue growing in the upcoming months, supported by low mortgage rates.
New home sales plunged in all four regions; however, the largest drop of 26.3% was registered in the West. The inventory level rose 1.5% to 268K units last month, the highest since July 2009. AT the past month's sales pace it would likely take 5.7 months to sell all houses available on the market.
US Existing Home Sales and FOMC Meeting Minutes
USD/JPY keeps edging higher
The USD/JPY pair edged higher yesterday, but managed to overperform, as it breached the immediate resistance area. As a result, the US Dollar is now likely to keep appreciating against the Yen, even though technical indicators are unable to confirm that. The nearest area to limit the gains now rests around 112.60, represented by the monthly R1, the 20 and the 100-day SMAs, but the Buck could experience trouble reaching that far up. Technical indicators in the daily timeframe, however, are unable to confirm the possibility of the positive outcome, but in the longer timeframes they do suggest the Greenback is to keep climbing higher.Daily chart
There are 55% of traders holding short positions (previously 60%), while the share of buy orders remains unchanged at 55%.
At the moment, 62% of OANDA clients are long the US Dollar against the Yen, while the remaining 38% are short. In addition, Saxo Bank clients' sentiment remained unchanged in the last 24 hours, as 59% of their open positions are still long.
Spreads (avg, pip) / Trading volume / Volatility
Traders are becoming increasingly bullish on the Dollar